Rail stand for scale platforms



Nov. '4. 1924.

J. D. ONEILL RA'IL STAND FOR SCALE PLATFORMS Filed Dec. l, 1921 Y. mwwwa",- m5,.

/m/en/ar B James O'We// MMM@ Nov. 4. 1924. 1,514,566

J. D. O NEILL RAIL STAND FOR SCALE PLATFORMS Filed Dec. l 1921 2Sheets-Shen 2 V//////// ////l\l /m/e/y/r James We/V/ Patented Nov. 4,1924.

JAMES D. ONEILL, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

RAIL STAND EDLE, SCALE PLATFORMS.

Application filed December 1, 1921.

To all whoa/i1. t may concern.'

Be it known that l, JAMES D. ONEILL, a subject ol' the King of GreatBritain, and resident of the city of Montreal, in the Province o' Quebecand Dominion of Canada, have invented certainnew and useful lmprovementsin Rail Stands tor Scale Platorms, o' which the following is a full',clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in rail stands for track scales,and one object is to provide a`. stand so `constructed as to facilitatethe erection ot the deck or root' over the scale platform.

At the present time, track scales` are constru cted with a waterproofdeck or roof over thel scale platform proper, the live rails of thescale being mounted on stands which are movable vertically through thedeck. In

" order to preserve the waterproof qualities ot the deck to the maximumextent, the

stands are provided with depending llanges or capes inside whichupwardly extending flashings secured to the deck project. To produce thebest results, the capes must hang down considerably over the Hash-ingsand, as the stands cannot be too high, difliculty is experienced inputting thefflashing in place. In practice, the flashing is assembled onthe stand and held in raised position, while the planking of the deck isinsert-ed, the flashing being then lowered on to and secured to theplanking. It will be readily understood that this is an awkward and timeconsuming proceeding. It a stand should break or a hashing requirerenewal, it becomes necessary to remove the deck planking in order toproperly assemble the finishing and cape.

`.-^..ccording to the present invention, the stands are constructed withreadily removable rapes, permitting the deck to be planked and theflashing set `in place without dil'liculty. The cape is then applied tothe stand. The invention resides essentially inproviding a rail standhaving a top plate ot any suitable shape grooved to receive a cape whichis held preferably by its own resiliency and without the use ofadditional tastenings.

In the drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the invention:-

' 1 is a cross sectional view of the deck platform ot a track scaleshowing the and Vimproved stands in position thereon.

Ms. i2 is en, enlarged Cross sectional View Serial No. 519,278.

of a stand showing the cape assembled thereon in its relation to theflashing.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a stand.

Fig. d is a plan view of the stand.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the detachable cape.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 11 designates a scale pitin the upper part of which is mounted a platform 12. In order to keepsnow andv rain out oit the pit and away from the` mechanism ofthe scale,a roof or deck 13 is'provided over the pit supported on framing 14C ofsuflicient strength to carry dead rails (not shown),` so that when carswhich do not require to be weighed -are run over the scale they may runon the dead rails andA not cause unnec essary wear to the scale. Theliverails 15 are mounted on the platform by means of stands 16 whichproject upwardly through openings 17 in the deck. Toprevent water on thedeck running into the pit through the openings 17, atlashing 18 isprovided around each opening.

According to the present invention, the stands each comprise a top plate19 of any suitable form, tor example, the circular form shown in Figure4l, supported on a suitably formed column 20 having a base plate 21adapted to be secured to the scale platform. The upper surface of theplate 19 may be provided with lugs 22, between which the base of thelive rail 15 is received. The rail may be held down by any suitablemeans, such as clips 23 secured by bolts 24, the heads of which may bereceived in recesses 25 on the underside of the plate to hold the boltsfrom turning when nuts are tightened thereon. The construction ot theupper surtace of the plate is more orless immaterial and may be variedas desired. The periph` cry of the plate is provided with a shallowdepending flange 26 which may be slightly Vdared outward as shown. rTheinner surface ot this flange is provided with a groove 27.

The cape of the stand, designated as a whole by the numeral 28, ispreferably in the form of a strip i9 ot sheet metal, the long edges ofwhich are provided with rolled rims 8O and v31 formed on opposite sidesof the strip, so that when the strip is bent to the shape ot the topplate 19 one of the rims will project outwardly and t-he other projectinwardly. rEhe outwardly projecting me. 3G marks the top of the cape andthis rim is designed to enter easily into the groove27 of the top plate.The rims are preferably reinforced by lengths of spring wire 32 and 33respectively. The wire 32 in the upper rim 30 stops short of one end ofthe rim and the other end of the wire projects beyond the opposite endof the rim, as clearly shown in, Figure 5. Vhen the ends of the strip 29are brought together, the projecting end of the wire at one end of therim may be slipped into the unoccupied portion of the rim at the otherend of the strip, so as to complete an endless upper rim for the Vcape.This projecting` wire end may bev Vfreely slidable in the rim yportionwhich it occupies. so that the circumference of the cape may bedecreased by pressure and on release will expand. -Both ends of the wire33 may project beyond the ends of the lower rim 31 with a view toconnect-ing them together. This connection may be easily accomplished byforming a loop 34 in one end of the wire and a. hook 35 in the; oppositeend. One end of the strip 29 may be provided with a tongue 36 projectingbeyond the ends of the rolled rims, so that this tongue will overlap theopposite end of the strip before the ends of the rims abut one another,and prevent further contraction of the cape. The strip 29 is preferablyinitially shaped, so that when it is bent to the form of the plate 19the girth at the bottom will be greater than the girth at the top, thatis to say, the cape will have an appreciable convergence toward the top.This convergence is preferably such as to bring the outer surfaces ofthe flange and cape into substantial parallelism.

y The opera-tion of the device is tially as follows The stands 16, beingin position on the platformv and the deck completely constructed and theflashing 18 in place,l the cape is opened and slipped around the Hashingand stand and its ends allowed to spring together. The ends of the lowerbinding wire 33 are no-w connected7 the end of the upper wire 32 beingfirst inserted in the unoccupied end of the rim. The upper end of thecape is now contracted and thrust upwardly inside the flange of thestand top plate. lt will be noted that the inner surface of the flangetapers upwardly both below and above the groove 27. rIhe lower part ofthis taper will serve to assist the contraction of the cape as itisthrust upwardly or, if the cape is sufliciently contracted beforeinsertion to go clear up to the top plate, the sloping inner surfacewill thrust it downwardly during its expansion, so that the rim 30 willslip into the groove 27. An operator oncel skilled in the attachment ofthese capes can put'one in place in substana few seconds. As will beclearly seen in Figures 2 and 3, the cape hangs downwardly over theflashing. Rain falling on the top of the stand runs over the flange 26,on over the cape 27 and falls on to the flashing and thence on to thedeck. The provision of the groove 27 some distance up inside the iangesubstantially precludes the possibility of water working into thegroove, while at the same time the internal location of the lower rim 31substantially precludes the possibility of water getting into this rim.The closure tongue 36 produces what is in effect an endless or unbrokencape and, as this tongue covers the connected ends of the lower wire,they will be protected from weather and also concealed from the eye ofthe curiousl ln addition, the tongue covers the fastening and guardsagainst the same being caught by a passing object. For all practicalpurposes, the cape is as unbroken and rigid as if it was cast integralwith the stand.

The advantages of the invention will be readily appreciated by thoseskilled in scale construction. A stand according to this invention maybe manufactured quite as cheaply as the ordinary stands but the cost ofapplication will be'materially less. The projecting cape is obviouslythe part of a stand most liable to breakage and with the one-piecestands a broke-n cape necessitates the renewal of the whole stand,whereas according to this invention onlyT the cape need be renewed. Theability tol quickly and easily remove the cape by merely contracting anddrawing down the same greatly facilitates the renewal of corrodedflashings or worn out deck planking. ln addition, the ability to removethe cape greatly facilitates the relaying of rails, as it enables freeaccess to be had to the underside of the plate 19 for the insertion orremoval of bolts 24. The invention is obviously not confined to acircular top plate, such as illustrated, as the removable cape isapplicable equally well to any other shape of stand either in. circularform or in a form corresponding to the peripheral shape of the stand topplate. While the plate 19 has been shown and described as provided witha continuous depending fiauge, it will be understood that this precisearrangement is, though preferable, not essential and that the detachablecape may be supported in other ways without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

l/Vhile the invention has been described especially in its rela-tion tolive rail stands for track scales, it will be understood that it is notthus limited but may be applied to ldead rail sta-nds and to stands foruse other than on track scales. lhile the preferred method of connectingthe cape to thestand has been illustrated and described, it will beunderstood `that J@he construction of CJD the stand may be modified in agreat variety of Ways Without departing from the spirit of the inventionand also that the shape of the cape need not correspond with theperipheral shape of the stand.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is l. A rail stand fortrack scales including a top plate, a depending peripheral flangethereon internally grooved, and a detachable cape engaging the flangegroove.

2. A rail stand for track scales including a top plate having aninternally grooved depending flange, and a detachable cape having anexternally projecting rim engageable in the flange groove.

1%. A. rail stand for track scales including a top plate having aninternally grooved depending flange, and a detachable cape comprising astrip of metal having its ends disposed in overlapping arrangement, anexternally projecting rim at one edge of said strip engageable in theflange groove, and an internally projecting rim at the opposite edge.

t. In combina-tion with a device according to claim 8, a resilientbinding Wire in each of said rims.

5. In combination With a device according to claim 3, a binding Wire inthe upper rim having one end thereof disposed some distance from the endof the rim, leaving an unoccupied end portion of said rimi and havingthe opposite end thereof projecting from the opposite end of the rimvand insertable in the unoccupied rim portion.

6. In combination with a device according to claim 3, a binding ivire inthe loiver rim, and means to releasably connect the ends of said Wiretogether.

7. In combination with a. device accord ing to claim 3, binding Wires insaid rims, the Wire in said external rim. terminating at one end somedistance from the end of the rim and leaving an unoccupied rim portionand projecting at its opposite end beyond the opposite end of the rim,said projecting Wire portion being slidable in the unoccupied rimportion and the ends of the ivire in the internal rim projecting beyondthe rim` ends and releasably connected together.

S. In a rail stand for track scales, a. top plate having a dependinginternally grooved flange, and a contractable cape adapted for insertionWithin said flange to expand by its resiliency to engagement in theliange groove.

9. In a rail stand for track scales, a top plate` provided With agroove, and a resilient detachable cape movable by its oivn resiliencyinto supporting engagement with said groove.

l0. A. detachable cape for rail stands, comprising a strip of metal bentto bring its ends int-o overlapping relation, and rims at the long edgesof said strip projecting respectively from opposite surfaces thereof.

ll. A detachable cape for rail stands, comprising a strip of materialbent to position its ends in overlapping relation, and rolled rims onthe long edges of said strip, one of said rims projecting externallyfrom the bent up plate and the other rim pro jecting internally.

l2. A detachable cape for rails stands, comprising a strip of materialbent to position its ends in overlapping relation, and rims at the longedges of said plate, said rims being shorter than the plate, whereby thebent up plate may be contracted and expanded without disengagement ofits overlapping ends or engagement of 'the rim ends.

13. A detachable cape for rail stands, comprising a plate bent toposition its ends in overlapping relation, a rolled rim at one edge ofsaid plate, a binding Wire in said rim, one end of said Wire beingpositioned some distance from the end of the rim, and the other end ofsaid Wire projecting beyond the opposite end of the rim and beingslidable in the first mentioned rim end.

14. A detachable cape for rail stands, comprising a plate bent toposition its ends in overlapping relation, a rim at one long edge ofsaid plate, a binding Wire in said rim, and means releasably connectingthe ends of said binding ivire to releasably hold the plate ends intheir overlapping relation.

l5. A detachable cape for rail stands comprising strip of material bentto position its ends in overlapping relation, rims at the long edges ofsaid plate, binding Wires in said rims, one of said Wires projecting atboth ends beyond the rim and being formed for hook and eye engagementand the other of said Wires terminating at one end short of the end ofthe rim and projecting atv its opposite end from the opposite end of therim, said projecting end being engageable in the nrst mentioned rim endto hold the first mentioned Wire ends against disconnection and slidableto permit contraction and expansion of the bent up plate.

i6. A detachable cape for rail stands, comprising a plate bent toposition its ends in overlapping relation, means to releasably connectthe ends of one long edge of said plate and hold this edge of the plat-eat a substantially constant circumference, and slidable connection atthe ends of the other long edge holding the first mentioned connectionoperative and permitting variation 377' in the circumference of thebent-up plate at said second edge.

In Wit-ness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JAMES D. ONEILL.

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